


Seven ( in english)

by hello33willoTheWisp845



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-25 01:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 19,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14966285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hello33willoTheWisp845/pseuds/hello33willoTheWisp845
Summary: Seven wants to leave Voyager, why - well she says why, but it's not really what she's leaving Voyager for. In the course of the first chapter comes why. Then we continue and hopefully there is an exciting story. Let's see where we go.





	1. The Decision

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my first story in the Star Trek universe. I'm a Star Trek fan, I know the series and some of the movies. I love the stories about Captain and Seven here and I love to read everything. Preferably the romantic stories. The Technogebrabbel I always overread this. Therefore I ask you for leniency if my techno babble is not correct or even faulty. All I care about is the story between the Captain and Seven, everything else is incidental and exposed to my artistic freedom, so please do not take everything too seriously. Many Thanks.
> 
> I would like to thank BaeLanna very much. They helped to translate my German text into English. Many Thanks.

The doorbell rang and Captain Kathryn Janeway blinked at the book she had just read. It was already late, well past 11 pm. Only one person on the spaceship Voyager dared to seek her company at this time. So she straightened up in her chair and called "Come in."

And indeed, the expected person entered the captain's quarters and came in with two long strides. Seven stopped in front of the captain and looked down at her. Her face showed no emotion or why she needed to speak to the captain right now.

"Seven, nice to see you, what brings you to me at this hour? Is there something you want to talk to me about? "

As Kathryn turned to Seven, she rose from her chair and walked over to the replicator and ordered a coffee. She knew from experience that talking to Seven at this time could be longer and perhaps more complicated than she would have liked.

Seven's eyes followed Kathryn's path to the replicator. She took a breath before she spoke to her captain.

"Captain, I'm here to tell you something important. I am so sorry that I am disturbing you so late. But I have decided to leave Voyager. I ... "

No more words came from Seven as Kathryn abruptly turned to Seven and in shock asked Seven, "What did you say?"

Her voice took on a higher tone than it would normally have. But she was really shocked by Seven's revelation. If she had already taken a sip of her coffee, she would probably have spit it in a hide bow over her living quarters. So she just held onto her cup of coffee in disbelief and hoped that this was just a bad dream that would soon dissolve.

She stepped quickly to Seven's side and looked at her with suspicion and asked again "What in the world ...? Why do you want to leave Voyager and where do you want to go? Seven, what's up? "

Several questions shot through Kathryn's head.

Yes, Seven had often already said before that she wanted to leave Voyager, but that was mostly on occasions when it seemed possible Voyager could shorten its way back to the Alpha quadrant or even arrive back home. Well, actually, every time it was the same thing - only Arturis*, who claimed to have made a ship with slipstream, which could swiftly bring them in back home, and then what looked to be a wormhole** which led directly back to earth appeared, but it was actually a hungry monster.

Both times, they were deceived and tricked. Both times they had barely got away with their lives.

Even so, on those two occasions, Seven had announced that she did not want to come along and had preferred to leave Voyager. On both occasions, Kathryn understood these statements to mean that Seven was afraid to return to the Alpha Quadrant and had made the decision not to.

But now, there was no reason for it. So what the hell was wrong? Why did Seven want to leave Voyager? What was she doing? Where did she want to go? How could she be dissuaded? All this went through Kathryn's mind within a short time.

Seven stared blankly at the captain as she started to speak

"Captain, I wish to leave Voyager. You once promised me that I could, as far as I had individually developed to the point where I was able to make that decision myself. And now I think that I am ready. I spent the last 2 years, 7 months, 16 days here on Voyager, accepting my humanity, following your advice, connecting with the crew and making Voyager my new collective. But now I have realized that that is no longer enough. On countless outdoor missions and R & R, I have come to realize that I find the nature, as well as the different cultures, of the different planets fascinating. That's why I'd rather live on a planet instead of on Voyager. I want to explore such a life. "

Kathryn looked at Seven in wonder as she listened to her. She had not expected that to be the reason why Seven wanted to leave Voyager. The reason sounded completely absurd for her. Seven had grown up on the spaceship "Raven", after which she lived for 18 years on various Borg cubes and for almost 3 years on Voyager. Seven had lived with technology all her life and now she wanted to live on a planet? Maybe without technology? Where she herself was a cybernetically upgraded human through her Borg physiology?

"Seven, how did you think of that? Where do you want to go? What about your alcove and what about your implants? You know that you have to regenerate regularly and your implants need to be maintained by the Doctor", Kathryn asked worriedly.

"Captain, I used the sensors to scan the next 30 light-years and discovered a solar system that contains several inhabited class M planets. That's where I want to go. As far as my alcove and implants are concerned, I will be using the Portable Regeneration Unit, which the doctor and Lt. Torres have developed that can perform the necessary regeneration. The doctor removed any implants he could remove. The remaining implants, which I still have in my body, I can wait and adjust alone. However, if they are damaged, it will cause my death, as they can not be repaired or replaced. But that can happen here as well as anywhere else in the universe and the result would be the same. So I do not see the problem of leaving Voyager. "

Kathryn rubbed her thumb and forefinger over the bridge of her nose. She was speechless for the moment. Seven had obviously thought of everything. `Damn, damn, damn, how can I stop her from doing this? Am I allowed to be so selfish and command her to forget this nonsense? How would that affect our friendship and working relationship? `

"Seven, to be honest, I do not know what to respond to everything you have said. I ... need time to think about it. "

"Very good. But Captain, I came to you today and told you about my plans, they were not a request for permission to leave. My decision is final and I will leave Voyager. "

"Seven" Kathryn suddenly felt very helpless and very tired, she would have liked to grab Seven by the arms and shake her until sense had returned to the young woman.

Instead, she was beaten for the first time and just asked, "How do you intend to get to this class M planet?"

"Captain, I know we have to fill up our supplies soon. Therefore, I was asked by you to look for suitable planets in the scans. And the solar system that I mentioned earlier has suitable planets where we can replenish our supplies, and on that occasion I can alight on the planet to start my new life. "

"Oh, you probably thought of everything? Hmm ... "Kathryn replied resignedly.

"Yes, Captain"

"Hm ... good. When are we near the solar system? "

"In less than 6 days. But I wanted to present detailed information tomorrow at the staff meeting. I also wanted to share my decision with the other officers on this occasion. "

"Oh, it is good that you have already told me this evening. I'm Curious Seven, how long have you been planning that? How long have you wanted to leave Voyager? Has there been anything lately that has now made you want to leave? "

Kathryn looked at Seven curiously, hoping that Seven would say something that she could use to turn Seven from her absurd idea. She still was not beaten, nor had hope to persuade Seven to stay.

"No, Captain. Nothing that happened or did not happen lately made me want to leave Voyager. Only recently did I feel the need to start a new life. My work on Voyager is no longer fulfilling and I know from my dating experience that there is no suitable life partner for me on Voyager either. Therefore, it is my desire to leave Voyager and seek "my luck" elsewhere. "

Kathryn sighed heavily, "Oh, Seven, why didn't you ever tell me that work here on Voyager no longer fulfills you? We could find other things for you that fulfill you more ... huh? As for your dating experiences, so far you only had one date. And so everything which could go wrong went wrong. But that is not your fault. I should have been there for you and not the doctor. I should have helped you with words and deeds. I'm really sorry. How about we make up for this omission and see how it goes ... huh? "

"No, Captain. I've made my decision. I want to find "my luck" elsewhere. "

With that, Seven turned on her heels and wanted to leave the captain's quarters. But before she could leave, Kathryn gently held her by the arm.

"Seven, wait. I have to be honest with you. I do not like your decision a bit and I would just like to tell you to stay here on Voyager and forget your idea of "finding your happiness elsewhere". But I know that this order would probably break our friendship, as well as our working relationship. Therefore, I want you to know that I would lose a valued crewmember with your departure and a good friend. Please think again about your decision ... Yes? "

Kathryn looked at Seven expectantly. Seven's mouth now showed a small smile at the revelation that she was a valued member of the crew for the Captain and a good friend of Kathryn Janeway's. But soon after, the small smile had disappeared and been replaced by a determined look.

Seven knew that she had made the right decision and that in any case, no matter what the captain or the woman behind the captain or her coworkers or friends said, she should not let them decide. Her decision was right and nothing could stop her. That would not happen in any case.

So she pulled on her cool borgmask, arrogantly raising her chin, and looked the captain in the eyes, icy cold.

"Good night Captain" she finally turned around and left the captain's quarters.

Kathryn swallowed hard against the lump that had formed in her throat and tried to blink away the tears that were about to break. She sank back into her chair dejectedly, cursing everything and everyone in her thoughts.


	2. The Departure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the many "damn"'s I used in my text. I really did not want to curse so much, but somehow, according to the situation, it seemed appropriate.

The last few days passed so fast and now Seven stood in front of her on the transporter platform and dematerialised.

Kathryn wondered, "Was that it? Could the universe really be so mean and vile to her? Could the universe really be so cruel and take her Seven away like that?"

The last few days seemed like a bad nightmare and somehow the nightmare did not seem to end.

**************************************************  
About six days ago, Seven had announced in the staff meeting to her colleagues and friends that she wanted to leave Voyager as soon as Voyager reached the next solar system.

Everyone looked at Seven incredulously. For a brief moment everything was very quiet in the conference room, but then all at once there was talking and questions.

Most questions related to the why? But Seven looked resolutely around the conference room, simply saying it was her wish and that's why she wanted to leave Voyager. She did not respond to the questions of others, no, she ignored everything and everyone.

Kathryn felt as if Seven had long since said goodbye to Voyager, her colleagues and friends, her collective, and all that came now, all the questions and objections, even the reactions of each employee to her decision , were completely irrelevant to her. She was determined to go. And nothing and nobody seemed to be able to stop her.

The best evidence for that was probably that Seven just got up and just left the conference room. Without looking back.

After Seven had rushed out of the room, there was a heated discussion between her crewmembers. But Captain Kathryn Janeway was too tired, too drained, too .... well what else? In any case, to cut a long story short, she was in no mood to join in the discussion or continue to be exposed to it. So she simply raised her hand and said, "That's enough! Seven has made a decision and no matter how much we discuss it or try to dissuade her, it will not take us further, so we should just accept her decision ... huh?"

Kathryn looked at her crewmembers in turn, her command mask at maximum. She was determined to end the subject now. After all, there were more important things to discuss.

So the topic was set aside and the meeting continued. Everybody was lost in their own thoughts about Seven's decision.

**************************************************

The past 6 days Seven had withdrawn from the entire Voyager crew and avoided everyone. She even asked Commander Chakotay for leave. Which has never happened before.

Kathryn had tried to catch Seven again and persuade her to stay. But Seven made the greatest effort to keep herself hidden. She neither responded to communicator news nor were they able to locate her on the spaceship. Whenever Kathryn thought she knew where Seven was and quickly hurried there, Seven was not visible. Only her communicator was here or there.

After 3 days, Kathryn was frustrated and completely demoralized. She left it up to Seven.

************************************************  
And now she was gone. In Kathryn, an emptiness spread out which she physically and emotionally suppressed.

The farewell was short, a short thank you, for the liberation from the Borg collective and for the help in her recovery of humanity and friendship.

!?!Not more!?!

No heartfelt embrace. Not even a timid hug. Seven just turned and boarded the transporter platform. And with a short nod, which indicated she was ready to beam, she had disappeared from Kathryn's life a few seconds later.

Damn, she was just gone. The realization hit Kathryn hard. That just should not work like that. She had imagined the farewell differently.

Damn, she wanted to pull Seven into her arms, push her and ask her not to leave.

She had imagined in the last days how the farewell should run. She had imagined that if she told Seven how much she meant to her, Seven would stay on Voyager. That they would both go to their quarters, sit down and drink tea / coffee. And could talk about the last days and find out what would have to be changed so that Seven could feel comfortable again on Voyager.

But no, that did not happen. A simple handshake from Seven and an expressionless pale face. A quick thank you and then she was gone.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.

Kathryn quickly turned around in the transporter room and quickly wore her maximum command mask through her spaceship. She hoped to get into her quarters as soon as possible without being stopped by anyone for anything.  
She just did not have any nerve for it.

When she finally reached her quarters on Deck 3 and the doors closed behind her, she finally gave her feelings free rein. She slid to the ground and began to cry without restraint. She curled up like an embryo and cried out her grief.

How could Seven be so cold-hearted and deny her friends, colleagues, and her collective a proper farewell? Neelix had suggested a farewell party, but that had not happened. Seven, as far as Kathryn knew, did not say goodbye to anyone except her. And that was not a real farewell. That was far from a proper farewell.

Damn it.

Could she have been so wrong about Seven? Was she just an ice-cold person who was irrelevant?

Kathryn cried herself to sleep on the floor in front of her quarter-door. She did not have the strength to get up and drag herself to her bed. She was so tired and the emptiness spreading into her body distorted her so much. The emptiness deprived her of all her strength, her energy, her will to live.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.


	3. A new life starts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arrival on the Federation Time Ship Relativity

When Seven had re-materialised on the transporter platform of the Federation time ship Relativity, she looked cool and composed on the outside. But inside, a violent emotional storm raged. Only someone closer to Seven would have seen how much she was suffering right now.

She wanted to curl up on the floor and start crying unrestrainedly. She wanted to cry about her loss, about everything she lost forever in a few seconds. It hurt her so much to know she would never again see the woman she was in love with. Everything was lost forever.

But she controlled herself, after all, she was Borg. And Borg did not howl. No way. Therefore, she arrogantly raised her chin and approached her new captain.

Lieutenant Ducane*, who now wore 4 pips on his collar and was now the captain of the Federation time ship Relativity, greeted Seven with a small smile.

"Seven, it worked so well. I want to welcome you to Relativity. "He held out his hand to greet Seven.

Seven took his hand shyly and squeezed it. She tried a small smile, which did not work well. She just felt too bad to pretend that she was happy.

"Captain Ducane, thank you for taking me on your ship and allowing me to start a new life"  
"No problem Seven. Look, we are very happy that we could save you and include you in our crew. You are a tremendous asset to us. I hope you will soon feel just as comfortable here as on Voyager. To be honest, I am very sorry that we had to oblige you to keep silent about the true reason for your departure."

"It was very hard for me to lie to Captain Janeway and the crew members of Voyager. There seemed no need to do so, therefore I found the last days very tormenting. But I knew that only my silence could save the entire Voyager crew from certain death. "

"Well Seven, as I said, it was necessary. But now that you're here, how about I show you your quarters first and then get to know you and everything else tomorrow? "

"Very good, Captain," Seven agreed.

Seven wanted to be alone at last, thinking about the past few days, saying goodbye to her former captain and everything else. And maybe it would help her if she could finally let the tears which sting in her eyes to flow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Lieutenant Ducane, appeared in season 5 in the 24 episode.


	4. A Surprise

After seven had indulged her tears and grief, she decided after about 20 minutes that this was a meaningless use of their time. She did not feel better, despite the weeping, than before.

So she went to the bathroom and washed her face. Just as she was done, the doorbell of her quarters sounded.

After a quick glance in the mirror, she decided that she could dare to invite someone, whoever it was, into her quarters.

"Come In"

"Hi, hello, I live next to you and since I heard the rumour that someone new would join the crew of Relativity, I was curious and thought I would just say hello and ask if I can help with anything , May I come in?"

"Captain?" Seven paled at the sight of the woman standing in her door.

"What? No, I'm not the captain, I'm Kathryn Janeway Tighe, but you can call me Kat. But hey, what's up, you're so pale. Are you okay? Come on, I'll take you to the couch. You should sit down .... Hm?"

The woman, who looked like her former captain, but more importantly, like the woman Seven had been in love with for a long time, gently led Seven to the couch while she continued to ask, "Are you okay? Should I notify the infirmary or ...?

"No I'm fine. Thanks. "Seven answered quickly. She definitely did not want to end up in the infirmary on her first day and be examined by a curious doctor.

"Okay good. But how about I get you a glass of water? Maybe then you will feel better? Yes?"

As the woman walked over to the replicator and asked for a glass of water, Seven went through all sorts of questions. Who was this woman who looked like her captain? What was she doing here? Where did she come from?

"Here you are, please drink"

After Seven had taken several small sips from her glass of water as the strange woman watched her with interested, Seven put her glass on the table in front of her.

"Excuse me, I was just so surprised to see you here. You look very much like my former captain, Captain Kathryn Janeway ... "

"Oh, no, really? I became a Captain in your Parallel Universe? God, how could something like that happen? "Kathryn asked in astonishment.

"From my universe? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, okay - somebody who does not know about it yet. Okay, so the Relativity is not just a time ship, slipping between the past, the present and the future. No, she can also move between the many parallel worlds. And I became a Science Officer in my Parallel Universe and married my childhood sweetheart Justin Tighe. He is Captain of Voyager. But well, that's not important anymore, is it? "

"Why is that so? Please explain that to me! "

"Well, I'm here on Relativity now, and my past life is over. I've been here for only a few weeks, it's still hard for me to accept the whole thing. But, what else can I do but live my new life as well as I can? "

"What happened?"

"Hm ... there was an accident that would have killed me if people had not beamed me out of relativity. Unfortunately, I am now considered dead in my old life and a return is impossible "sighed Kathryn hard.

She seemed very sad for a moment. But then she turned to Seven again "What's your name? And what are these jewels over your eye and on your right cheek? Oh, excuse me, I'm a scientist and very curious. You do not have to answer my questions, though I hope you will someday. "

Kathryn watched Seven curiously and hoped to get answers. Seven realized that it would be rude not to answer.

"I'm Seven of Nine, but you can call me Seven. The jewels over my eye and on my cheek are Borg implants. I..."

"Borg implant, what does that mean?"

"You do not know the Borg in your universe?"

"No, unfortunately not. But you seem very interesting. Please tell me more about it. Yes?"

"Well, the Borg are a civilization of cybernetically upgraded bio-organisms. They come from the Delta Quadrant. The Borg are one of the most feared species in the galaxy of my universe. They exist as a great collective consciousness. Their only goal is to achieve perfection. They achieve this by assimilating other valuable beings and technologies. This gives the collective the highest possible physical and technical perfection. So to sum it up, you can be glad you have not met the Borg yet. "

Kathryn looked dismayed as she listened to Seven's little talk. "And you have been assimilated by the Borg? So you have these implants? "She asked quietly.

" Yes, that's right. I was assimilated by the Borg and lived for 18 years as a Borg drone. But then Captain Janeway came and freed me from the collective. In the beginning I found that all but good, but over time I have regained my humanity and matured as an individual. I owe my captain a lot. "

Kathryn did not really know what to say. She did not know the Borg, but hearing that this young woman sitting opposite her was assimilated by them and then spent 18 years of her life with them greatly upset her. Why did she always have to be so curious and want to know everything so well?

"I am glad that my counterpart from your universe saved you. Luckily, we have not made contact with the Borg in my universe yet, "Kathryn sighed heavily.

After several silent minutes passed between the two women without either knowing what else to say, Kathryn simply pulled Seven into a hug and hugged her gently. Seven was too scared to think about this Kathryn's behavior, and she stiffened slightly.

Kathryn softly whispered in Seven's ear, "Thank you for answering my questions," then she released Seven and smiled gently at her, "but if I ask anything that is too uncomfortable for you, then I want you to tell me that. OK?"

Seven thought about that for a moment before nodding slightly.

"Fine, I would very much like to make friends with you."

Kathryn looked at Seven expectantly. But before she could answer, Kathryn got a communicator message that she should report to the science department.

Kathryn looked at Seven apologetically. "Sorry, I have to go. It was very nice to meet you. I hope we can meet again soon and become friends ... Hm? "

"Yes, that would be acceptable"

"Oh, I'm glad. See you soon. "Kathryn hugged Seven once more to say goodbye and then quickly left the quarters.

Seven stood rooted to her new quarters for several minutes, trying to analyze what had just happened for the second time.

The embrace of Kathryn felt very good. Seven felt a pleasant tingle wherever Kathryn's body had touched her body during the embrace. Seven forgot about her grief at this time as she thought about the reaction of her body.

Seven sighed heavily, unfortunately, her captain, her Kathryn Janeway never hugged her. If she had ever done so, Seven would have few comparative memories. But no, apart from a few touches on her arms or on her shoulders, there had been no contact. And these touches were short and casual. The captain was very tactile and she often touched her crewmates that way.

Seven sighed one last time before deciding it would not make much sense to keep thinking about this topic. Instead, she began to sort the few personal belongings she had brought with her from Voyager, and then become familiar with the spaceship and its database.


	5. A new friendship is developing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The real reason why Seven left Voyager is revealed.

Seven successfully completed her first day on Relativity. She was made acquainted with the individual systems and departments of the ship and got to know many new colleagues. Everybody she met welcomed her kindly. It seemed as if everyone really, really wanted to get to know her.

Back on Voyager, when she became a crew member, most people were afraid of her or, like B'Elanna, openly showed their dislike of her and of the Borg. Only in the course of time did the attitude change of the people Seven came across.

Seven had come out of her alcove this morning (a Borg alcove was specially installed in her quarters for her when she came, which remained a mystery to her) with mixed feelings. She remembered her first day on Voyager too well. If she was not Borg, her discomfort might have been called a joke before the unknown.

But no, she was Borg, if only half, Borg have no jitters or fear. No way.

Therefore, she arrogantly raised her chin, straightened her shoulders, put on her cool borg mask and left her quarters. But when a friendly Captain Ducane picked her up in front of her quarters to show her the ship and introduce her to the crew, Seven realized that she did not need to be afraid of disapproval and rejection.

So her first day went surprisingly well and Seven felt very satisfied.

Before she could even think about what to do with her free time, the doorbell of her quarters sounded. Seven's eyebrow turned up in surprise. She did not expect anyone to visit her.

Curious who, standing at her door, she called "Come in"

When the door opened, Kathryn entered, smiling. In her hand she held a container.

"Hello Seven, how nice to see you again. I was curious how your first day on Relativity went. That's why I'm here. I also brought something to eat. Shall we sit down at the table? "

Kathryn chattered cheerfully as she asked the replicator for crockery and cutlery to cover the table. Then she turned to Seven with a truly enchanting smile.

Then she gestured to Seven to let her sit down.

"So go ahead, what was your first day like?" Kathryn asked eagerly. She had thought of Seven occasionally throughout the day. And every time she hoped that the young woman had had a good first day.

Seven looked at Kathryn in surprise. How did this woman managed to enter Sevens's quarters in a few seconds / minutes and cast a spell over Seven, who herself had forgotten to mention "that she did not have to eat at the time"?

"Well?" Kathryn asked again in a friendly tone, when Seven still had not answered her question.

"My first day was acceptable," Seven replied, before remembering to mention "but I do not need any food at this time."

Kathryn was really pleased to hear that Seven's first day had gone well and ignored Seven's announcement that she did not want to eat anything.

"Nonsense, what I brought with me is not food. This is a feel-good snack. It tastes really delicious. Please, you must try it. Yes?"

"A feel-good snack? What is that? "Seven asked unaware.

"Well, that's a snack to make you feel good. Something that flatters the soul. So if I have a day when everything goes wrong or something stupid happens to me, then I make myself a feel-good snack and after the meal, I feel a lot better. "

"Well my first day was acceptable, so I do not need a feel-good snack." Seven replied sincerely. After all, she did not want to make a mistake and accept something she did not need or deserve.

"Oh Seven, even though your day has gone well, I insist that you taste the mousse au chocolat, which is the name of the dessert, by the way. Please do me this little favor, it will certainly taste very good. Yes?"

"Very good, I will submit. May I ask who made the mousse au chocolat? "

"Oh, Seven, that was not an order from me, just a request. And I made the mousse myself. "

"You?" Seven asked in surprise.

"Yes, me. Is that such a surprise to you? I like to cook and bake. It helps me to relax and there's nothing better than spoiling the people you like or love with delicious food or desserts."

"I'm surprised. Capatain Janeway hated to cook or bake. She even has trouble programming replicator dishes appropriately. "

"Well, we are very different in that way. I admit that as a child I did not like growing up in a traditional colony. I did not like the homemade food my mother made. I admired all the other kids who grew up in homes with technology. But as I grew older and became engaged to Justin, I began to appreciate the traditional way of life of my parents. I asked my mother to teach me cooking and baking. And okay, it took some time for me to get better and actually eat the food. "Kathryn laughed at her many failed cooking attempts." But then, at some point, the knot collapsed and my prepared food became more edible and Justin loved it, so I changed my mind, took care of him and greeted him with home-cooked food after a long day at home in our quarters."

Remembering the many wonderful years she had spent with Justin, Kathryn sighed sadly before shoving a spoonful of mousse au chocolat into her mouth and slowly letting the taste melt on her tongue.

Seven did not like Kathryn looking sad, so she also tried a spoon of the mousse, she was really surprised at the delicious taste in her mouth.

"Good, isn't it?" Kathryn asked, smiling.

"Yes, very good." Seven immediately took another spoon of the mousse, and then another and another.

Kathryn watched with a smile as Seven shoveled spoon after spoon into her mouth. Seven looked so adorable as she feasted. Kathryn's sadness was replaced by the joy of watching the young woman so relaxed eating.

Too fast, unfortunately, the small bowl with the mousse was empty and Seven looked a little disappointed. So Kathryn pushed her bowl over to her and encouraged her to eat it as well.

Seven was happy to accept this offer. She now understood why this mousse au chocolat was called a feel-good snack.

After eating the second bowl of mousse, Seven looked up with a big smile. Some mousse was still smeared on Seven's mouth. Before Kathryn could think about it, she wiped the mousse with her fingers from Seven's mouth and then put it in her own mouth and sucked it off. Too late, Kathryn noticed what she had just done.

"Oh, I am sorry. I, I ... "Kathryn blushed immediately.

Seven looked at Kathryn curiously, she thought that the slight blush made Kathryn very beautiful.

"You're beautiful when you get so red," Seven replied honestly, as was her character.

"Oh really? You probably always get straight to the point ... Hm? Well, I've never liked blushing before "gestured Kathryn, embarrassed.

"Why is that so? Please explain it "

Kathryn sighed "Well, it's probably because you only get 'red' when something embarrassing happens. Redness unnecessarily alerts other people. Unfortunately, you can not control that yourself. "

To change the subject, Seven tried to talk to her former captain (her counterpart in Seven's Universe), about something else and brought Voyager and the crew into conversation. Very quickly there was an animated conversation between the two. So neither noticed how the time passed quickly.

In the conversation Kathryn learned that her counterpart lost her father and her fiance Justin Tighe in a shuttle accident about 17 years ago and Kathryn Janeway struck the career of a captain on the advice of Admiral Paris. She went missing on her first spacecraft, Voyager, on her first mission, ended up in the Delta Quadrant, and spent about six years still returning to the Alpha Quadrant. Seven talked about all the missions, the species they encountered, the battles involving the crew of Voyager, her release from the collective, their life on Voyager, and much more.

In return, Kathryn told everything she had experienced in her life. Seven and Kathryn wondered that Seven's Kathryn was already 43 years old, where the Relativity Kathryn, only 34 years old, had been engaged to Justin Tighe for about 8 years and had been married for 5 years. Kathryn talked about her desire to have a baby, as well as all the different plans she had before she arrived on the Relativity.

That made Kathryn still not sure why Seven was on Relativity now.

"Seven, why are you here? I mean, what happened? "

Seven sadly looked at Kathryn "Captain Ducane contacted me and told me about an event that would take place in a few months. He told me that Voyager would come in the next few months into a star system where the prevalent species was terrorized by many domineering species for centuries and they therefore hated the Borg. This species would recognize when they met Voyager that I was a former Borg drone. They would ask the captain to hand me over to them. Then they would sentence me to death for all the offenses that the Borg did to their species. However, Captain Janeway would not comply with this request, but rather tried to negotiate, and if that did not bring results, then Voyager would try to escape from the star system as soon as possible. The attempted escape would fail and Voyager would be destroyed with all her crew members. All of this I was told by Captain Duncane. He offered for me to come to Relativity before the events that he told me could take place. Thus, Voyager and her crew would be safe. The only thing I have to do is keep silent about the true reason for my decision. I accepted his offer, I lied to my captain and my friends and came to the Relativity. I…"

Seven paused and sighed heavily before continuing. "There has never been a need for me to lie. So I felt very bad about having to do it now. At least I was able to ensure that Voyager's crew remains safe. "Seven looked down in shame and tried to blink away the tears from her eye.

Kathryn put her hand on Seven's hand and squeezed it gently. With her other hand, she lifted Seven's chin so she could look deep into her eyes. "Hey, you did everything right. No reason to feel guilty about that ... huh? It's okay to lie when you want to protect the people you like and love, and that's the only thing you can do to protect them. "

When Seven still doubted and looked guilty, Kathryn continued, "I mean, what would have happened if you had told your Captain about the approaching event? If she's just a little like me, she would have talked you out of it. She would probably have been adamant about finding a solution to prevent what would happen. But maybe that would have contributed to the destruction of Voyager as well. Hm? So I think you did the right thing. OK?"

Seven was a little relieved by Kathryn's explanation, since she had already had the idea of what would happen if she had told the truth to her captain. But that did not change the fact that she still felt guilty. But to avoid further discussion about the subject, she merely nodded, indicating to Kathryn that she was right.

Kathryn smiled gently at Seven and was glad she could calm the young woman.

Kathryn suddenly had to yawn. Apologizing she put a hand in front of her mouth "Sorry, but I think I should slowly return to my quarters. Computer, what time is it? "

"It's 10:34 pm"

"Oh, I didn't realise it was already so late." Kathryn got up from the couch, which they had moved to hours ago when they started their conversation. Seven also got up quickly to escort Kathryn to the door.

At the door Kathryn turned to Seven and pulled her into a hug. When she pulled back from Seven, she smiled at her "This was really a nice afternoon and evening. Thanks for the nice talk. I would like to repeat that. Would you like to visit me tomorrow in my quarters and have dinner with me? "

Before Seven could think exactly about Kathryn's question, already a "Yes, very much" shot from Seven's mouth.

Kathryn was very happy about this answer. As a reward, she gave Seven a "good night kiss" on her left cheek and said goodbye, saying there would be dinner tomorrow at 7pm. With a wink, she left Seven's quarters.

Seven touched the spot Kathryn had just kissed with her hand and was amazed at the feeling that spread throughout her body. With a big smile Seven turned away from the door and sat down on her couch. Her legs were clearly too shaky at the moment to be able to stand still.


	6. Dinner

Kathryn had been looking forward to dinner with Seven all day, wondering what she could cook best. Yesterday, she had learned that Seven had not had solid food very often and that Seven needed very little food, as she was provided with the necessary energy through her alcove during regeneration.

After much deliberation, she opted for aubergine rolls with rucola salad as a starter, as a main course of zucchini and lemon noodles and as a desert almond semolina pudding with strawberries.

Ever since Kathryn has lived on Relativity, and that has been three months now, she has no longer cooked. Too many memories were associated with it. It just made her too sad to cook for herself.

But today she would not cook for herself alone, no, today Seven would come over for dinner. She really enjoyed knowing that. Kathryn herself was very surprised at herself. Normally, she did not make friends so quickly, but this young woman had something that attracted her. Was it perhaps because they both only recently moved to this new environment? Because they both lost everything from their previous lives? Or was it the tragic life story of Seven that led her to take care of Seven?

Well, whatever it was, Kathryn really did not have the time to think about it, after all, she had to make a 3-course meal, freshen up and get dressed.

But maybe she would find out tonight in the company of Seven.

Just at 7 pm, Kathryn's quarter-door rang. Luckily she had everything ready.

"Come in"

"Hello Seven, nice that you are here. Oh the bouquet is really beautiful. Is it for me? "

"Yes that's right. I found out that it is customary to bring a gift for the host. "

"Thanks, that's really nice of you. I'll quickly replicate a flower vase, then put the stems right in the water. "

As Kathryn replicated the vase, Seven looked around the quarters. It was just as big as hers and just barely furnished. That surprised Seven, she decided she would later ask about it.

"Seven, let's sit at the table and start dinner. What do you want to drink? I thought of wine, but you're welcome to choose something else for yourself. "

"No, wine is acceptable"

"Wonderful. Now come and sit down. As an appetizer, there are aubergine rolls on rucola salad. "

Kathryn made a plate of appetizer before Seven and Seven looked at it curiously. It looked acceptable. So she watched Kathryn take her knife and fork and cut an eggplant roll and put it her mouth. That seemed easy, so Seven imitated Kathryn and did the same.

"And how is it?" Kathryn asked eagerly.

Seven chewed a little before swallowing. "it is acceptable"

"So it tastes good?" Kathryn asked again. She did not know Seven for long and did not know that "acceptable" was a praise.

"That's right," Seven replied, then picked up one of the rocket salad leaves with the fork and slid it into her mouth. Immediately, she grimaced.

Kathryn observed Seven. "Oh, you do not like that? ... um? "

"No" was Seven's only answer, while she was still chewing on her nasty-tasting rocket salad leaf and unable to swallow it.

"You do not have to eat it, put it in the serviette." Kathryn held out a serviette.

Thankfully, Seven accepted the serviette and spat the pulp into the serviette, making up her mind not to eat the rocket again.

"Better?" Kathryn asked after a short time.

"Yes, thank you"

Silently they ate the rest of the appetizer.

Just as Kathryn cleared the appetizer plates, Seven cleared her throat and asked Kathryn softly, "Kathryn, may I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure. What would you like to know? "

"I would like to know ... is this a date?"

Kathryn looked over at Seven in surprise and before answering, she thought for a moment.

"No, I don't think this is a date, just a dinner. Why do you ask?"

"What's the difference between a dinner and a date? Please explain that to me. "

"Well, I think the difference between the two events is motivation. At a dinner it is about the participants, that can be 2 to several people, spending time together with a delicious meal, talking, laughing, having fun. For a date, there is a different dynamic. Only two people attend a date. And those two want to get to know each other better during the date, to see if they are interested in each other enough and are attracted to each other enough to perhaps later enter into a relationship. "

While Kathryn explained the difference to Seven, she put the main course on the table and sat down again with Seven at the table.

"The main course consists of zucchini and lemon noodles. Do not worry, it tastes better than rocket "

Kathryn winked at Seven and encouraged her to try the food. But before she started to eat, Seven watched Kathryn again as she took a fork and a spoon. With the fork she picked up some noodles and with the spoon she turned the noodles on the fork and then pushed it into her mouth.

Seven did the same and was satisfied that she was doing well. Kathryn smiled as she realized that Seven was watching her every once in a while, then imitating her.

"Seven, have you ever had a date?" She asked, after she had chewed her first bite and then swallowed it.

"Yes, one, but I failed." Seven answered quietly and lowered her head.

Kathryn immediately regretted asking her. She did not like Seven feeling uncomfortable.

"Hm ... you know that's a normal thing. You have to kiss many frogs before you get a prince. What I mean by that is that most dates do not go as you would have hoped. And believe me, I had a lot of dates that were really bad. It really depends on who you meet and what expectations you have in the someone. It's best to go on a date without expectations. When things are going well, the joy is great and when things are going bad, well, then, you are not very disappointed. So do not worry, you did not fail. Maybe your partner was just the wrong one? Hm..?"

Seven looked up in surprise, "Do you really think so?"

"Yes sure. See, when I met Justin, I did not like him very much. I had just been transferred from the academy as an ensign to the spaceship Icarus. Justin was a lieutenant at the time and we used to modify the sensors together. He did not take part in deliberations, he did not ask me any questions, did not ask for my opinion. He just worked on his own. But since I wanted to contribute to this task, I asked him for a talk. At this he told me that an explanation of things would take more time than the preparations and that he would rather take care of everything which was necessary to modify the sensors himself. I was pretty angry with him then, but what could I do, he was my supervisor. Had we had a date at this time, it would have been the worst date of all time. But in the course of the mission, unfortunately, I can not go into more detail because that is classified, I got to know him better and understood his deeds and actions, his way of doing things. I started respecting him and what was even more incredible, I began to admire him for the man he was. And he got to know me better. And after a few months of cooperation, we had our first date. It was wonderful. "Kathryn smiled as she remembered her first date with Justin.

Seven listened attentively as she pushed two or three more mouthfuls of noodles into her mouth and then asked, "Kathryn, is there a dessert?"

"Yeah, sure. Why do you ask?"

"Then I wish to finish the main course. I'd like to try the dessert before I can no longer eat anything more. "

"Oh, sure. I bet you would have preferred to eat the dessert first, instead of the appetizer and the main course?" Kathryn asked, smiling.

"That's right. Is there Mousse au Chocolate again? "Seven asked hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry little sweet tooth. But there is an almond semolina pudding on strawberries. That will certainly taste good too. Wait a minute, I will recycle the main course and get the dessert "

"What is a sweet tooth?"

While Kathryn brought the remains of the main course to the replicator and recycled it, she turned to Seven with a grin. "It is a person who really likes to eat sweets. And it seems you're someone like that. "Kathryn winked happily at Seven.

Shortly thereafter she came back to the table with the dessert. Seven immediately dipped her small spoon into her dessert and brought it quickly to her mouth.

"Hmmmmm .... That is very acceptable. "Seven purred between spoons which she put into her mouth with dessert.

Kathryn could only grin widely about Seven, who seemed to be such a sweetie. "I'm glad you like it so much. But slow down a bit, the trick is to enjoy it because you are generally only allowed to eat very little candy or dessert, because it is too unhealthy to eat all the time. Therefore, every single spoon must be enjoyed. In addition, you get less abdominal pain. Hm..?"

"I am Borg, Borg do not get stomach ache!" Seven replied firmly, but she took Kathryn's advice and slowly brought a new spoonful of dessert to her mouth, letting the taste slowly melt on her tongue.

Then Seven arrived at a new thought "Kathryn, on a date a good night kiss is exchanged at the end of the date. Does that also apply to a dinner among friends? "

Oh, boy, Kathryn thought, the woman keeps you busy. "Well, it depends." Kathryn answered hesitantly.

"What are the important factors?" Seven asked immediately.

"How well you know each other and how much you like each other. Why are you asking Seven? Would you like me to give you a good night kiss? "

Seven's cheeks got a little redder and she looked down. "Yes, very much," she replied softly. The good night kiss Kathryn gave her the night before made her feel good and she wanted to relive that feeling.

"Well, then I would feel very honored if I could give you a good night kiss at the end of the evening." Kathryn looked at Seven smiling.

"Then I would like to end the evening now," Seven replied quickly.

"What? Now?"

"Yes, I would like to get a good night kiss now" Seven's eyes sparkled with the anticipation of a * good night kiss * from Kathryn.

"Oh, Seven you're really cute. But you know, I enjoy the time with you just so much, let's go to the couch, talk a little and have fun, maybe listen to some music. Hm? And I promise you that I will give you a good night kiss at the end of the evening. Yes?"

Seven was a little disappointed that she did not immediately get a kiss and pulled a pout.

"Oh, your pout is really cute." Kathryn stroked her hand gently over Seven's cheek in conciliation. "Come, let's go over to the couch" Kathryn took Seven's hand in hers and gently pulled her to the couch.

There they sat, as they did the evening before, and talked about everything and nothing. They barely noticed how time passed.

And to Seven's delight, Kathryn pulled her into a gentle hug at the end of the evening and gave her one * good night kiss * then Kathryn whispered in Seven's ear, "Goodnight little sweetie, have sweet dreams of sour cucumbers" she then chuckled softly as she kissed Seven and released her again.

Seven raised an eyebrow and went to her quarters in surprise, after wishing Kathryn a good night too.


	7. On Voyager

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surely everyone of you knows how the story between Seven and Kathryn will evolve. There are enough of these stories here on the forum. They may fall in love with each other, exchange their first passionate kisses, love each other for the first time and live happily ever after. Well, since you already know how it will proceed, I will just skip this part because I'm really not very good at describing passionate kisses and sex practices. It is not me, somehow. So now we return to Voyager.
> 
> Everyone is well aware that Seven's departure has torn a big hole in the Voyager crew. She is missing as a competent crew member as well as a friend for Naomi, the Doctor and the Captain.
> 
> But Captain Janeway is especially hurt by Seven's departure. It is not difficult to imagine that, considering that there are already many stories about this, how the good captain scourges herself, feels the guilt of the whole universe over and over again and asks herself what she could have done better or differently.
> 
> And that's why I do not want to write about it. Suppose Captain Kathryn Janeway, as always, acts and acts as she did in Season 5, Episode 1 "Night / Night" when she retires to her quarters for a few weeks at the beginning of the episode.

So here we are: Voyager, about 7 months after Seven's departure

"Captain?"

"What is it Harry?"

"We are currently receiving an automatic emergency call from a shuttle. It includes Starfleet signatures "

Astonished, Captain Kathryn Janeway asked, "What? How far away are we? "

"Only 6 light-years, we must get the shuttle straight on the screen. "

"All right, Tom, fly us to the coordinates Harry sends you. Harry, give us a picture on the main screen! "

"Aye, Captain," both answered, from their respective workstations.

Immediately a picture of a shuttle appeared on the screen and Voyager analysed it quickly.

"Captain, there are two life signs displayed on the shuttle, the sensors say the shuttle is slightly damaged and contains Starfleet technology," Tuvok reported from his station.

"Harry, call the shuttle," ordered the captain.

"Captain, they do not answer," Harry replied shortly afterwards.

"Tuvok, what are the life signs?"

"The sensors indicate that the life signs are weak. Maybe we should beam an away team over, or pull the shuttle into Voyager with a tractor beam. "

"Yes, Tuvok, you are right, get an away team together and beam over"

A short time later, Tuvok and his away team beam to the unknown shuttle. And what he finds there surprised even him.

At the starboard console of the shuttle he found Seven sank down in the helm chair. She had a slight head injury and was unconscious. In the copilot chair next to her, a little girl was strapped in, she too was unconscious.

Quickly Tuvok establishes a communications link with Voyager "Captain, aboard the unknown shuttle is Seven of Nine and a little girl. They are both unconscious and Seven has a head injury. I recommend both are beamed to the infirmary "

When Kathryn heard who was aboard the shuttle, she dared hardly believe her ears, but as soon as she registered the news, her command mask dropped immediately. Frightened and worried, she immediately ordered Seven and the little girl to be beamed to the infirmary.

She quickly handed Chakotay the bridge and hurried to the infirmary. Millions of questions whirled in her mind. She barely noticed how she found her way to the infirmary.

Once there, she immediately rushed to the biobed where Seven lay unconscious. The doctor was about to care for her head wound and several other minor injuries.

Kathryn forced herself to let him work in peace. Only when he gave his okay, she stepped close to the biobed and looked at her Seven. Her hand stroked gently over Seven's cheek.

Relieved, but also worried, some silent tears rolled down Kathryn's cheek.

"Seven," she said softly.

The doctor discreetly stepped back to give the captain the privacy she needed and turned his attention to the little girl who was lying on another biobed nearby. With his tricorder he scanned the girl and frowned slightly as he read the values.

"Captain?"

Kathryn reluctantly turned to the doctor. "Yes?"

"My scans show that the girl is not unconscious, but was sedated and therefore unconscious," he told the captain.

"Oh, why is that?"

"I do not know, but surely Seven knows more about it. We'll have to wait until she regains consciousness. "

After a last look at Seven, Kathryn went over to the doctor and the girl. She looked at the girl curiously. She looked different than other children. "Why does she look so strange, Doctor?"

"Oh yes, you do not see it right away. My scans indicate a genetic defect. In the 21st century, this genetic defect was called Trisomy 21. This genetic anomaly was completely eradicated by genetic research and genetic manipulation in the mid-21st century. Do you remember the Eugenic Wars? This conflict was triggered by genetically "improved" humans, the Augments .... "

Kathryn raised her hand and silenced the doctor, she just did not feel like a lecture from the doctor. "Yes, yes Doctor, I know. But how can it be that this child has this genetic anomaly? "

"Well, Captain, I cannot answer that. We just have to wait until Seven wakes up and explains everything to us. She certainly knows more about it.

"Doctor, what is the child holding in her hand?" Kathryn pointed to an object in the child's hand. It looked like a little data padd.

The doctor carefully removed the small object, which was about 5 cm wide and 10 cm high and about 0.5 cm thick, from the child's hand and handed it to the captain. She had seen correctly, it was a data padd, but it looked very different from what they used on Voyager. It looked more modern and sleeker.

As she tapped the small screen, a picture of a child immediately appeared. It looked exactly like the child on the biobed. An audio voice said, "I'm Allison Elisabeth Erin Hansen Janeway, but you can call me Ally. I am 5 years old ".

Kathryn immediately recognized Seven's voice in the audio voice. God, how she had missed that voice.

The next time she touched the screen, a picture of Kathryn appeared and the audio announcement said "This is my mom, Kathryn Elisabeth Janeway"

With this news, the doctor looked surprised away from his tricorder. "Captain?"

Kathryn showed the doctor the data padd and they both looked at the picture. The woman in the picture looked just like Kathryn, but she seemed younger and happier. She smiled happily at this picture.

Kathryn was surprised, she had been so happy herself, had not seen happiness for a long time, let alone felt it. She almost envied this other Kathryn for it and wondered what made her so happy.

When she tapped the screen again, she got her answer and she turned pale in the face. The screen showed a picture of Seven, on which she also smiled happily. The audio voice said, "This is my Mommi Annika Hansen Janeway, but everyone calls her Seven"

Well, there's your answer, Kathryn thought sourly to herself. Her heart ached a lot. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat and put her command mask back on, then looked at the doctor.

"Now we know where Seven stands to this child. And obviously I, or another woman I am, is also her mother. Please scan to see if the DNA agrees with Seven's and mine "she instructed the doctor.

While the doctor switched his tricoder to a DNA diagnostic program and scanned the child again, Kathryn tapped the screen again.

Immediately a picture of a stuffed animal appeared, which already looked very tattered. The audio voice said, "This is Poppy, my cuddly cat. I often forget her, if you find her, please bring her back to me "

That made Kathryn smile. She glanced at Ally on the biobed and checked to see if she had Poppy with her. Since the toy was not there, she tapped her communicator "Tuvok, did you see a stuffed animal in the shuttle?"

Tuvok was surprised by the captain's question, but thought about it for a moment and then confirmed that he had seen something similar. Kathryn asked Tuvok to send someone to the shuttle to pick up the cuddly toy and bring it to the infirmary.

While waiting for the for the doctor's scan results as well as the cuddly toy, she tapped the data padd again. Now a picture of Ally appeared and the audio voice said "I'm Ally, I love to hide. If you find me, please take me to my Mommi Seven or my mom Kathryn. We live in Quartier 273, on Deck 6 "

Oh, that's a good clue, Kathryn thought, but this announcement definitely needed to be changed. She made a mental memory in her mind to share this message with Seven as soon as possible.

A short time later, an ensign entered the infirmary. In his hand he had a battered-looking cuddly toy. He handed it to the captain with a nod and set off again.

Kathryn looked at the stuffed animal uncertainly and tried to decide what to do with it.

The doctor looked up at her after the scan results were available. When he saw the dingy cuddly toy, he grimaced. "Captain? You do not want to give that dirty thing to the kid, right? "He asked suspiciously.

"Um ... no, of course not. I'll recycle it clean first, "so Kathryn took the stuffed animal and put it in the replicator and entered her code and program to recycle. A few seconds later, the cuddly toy appeared and looked like new.

Then she went with the cuddly toy back to the biobed, where the doctor stood in front of the girls.

He was just evaluating the scan results. When Kathryn stood beside him, he raised his eyes and looked at the captain. "The DNA diagnosis shows that neither Seven nor your DNA match the child's DNA. The child is definitely not her biological child "

"Oh, thanks for the information." Kathryn suddenly was unexpectedly sad about this result. Somehow she had wished that her other self and Seven were the birth mothers of Ally. In a way, that would have made her mother to this strange child.

"Doctor, how do we proceed? Why hasn't Seven awakened? "Kathryn asked worriedly.

"Well, why Seven hasn't yet awakened from her unconsciousness, there are no precise clues. Actually, she would have to be conscious again, for all the injuries to be fixed. As for the child, I could wake her up with a hypospray if you wish? Someone would have to take care of the child while Seven is unconscious, "the doctor said.

"I'll do it," Kathryn answered quickly, before the doctor could come up with another idea.

The doctor raised his eyebrow in surprise. "You want to take care of the child?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, sure, how hard can it be to look after a child?" Kathryn replied annoyed. How could the doctor question her abilities?

"All right, as you wish. I will prepare a hyprospray and then wake the child. One moment please"

He went to his medicine cabinet and took out a hyprospray and loaded it with a serum, which he could use to rouse the child.

Meanwhile, Kathryn squeezed her communicator and called Chakotay, "Chakotay I'll take care of the little girl who was with Seven the next few days because Seven is still unconscious. Please adjust the rosters so I can handle that "

"Captain?" Chakotay asked in surprise.

"Yes Chakotay, you heard me right. I'll tell you everything tomorrow. See you tomorrow"

Kathryn looked at the doctor and nodded at him to wake Ally.


	8. Ally

The doctor put the hypospray on Ally's neck and unloaded it. After a few seconds, the little girl's eyes fluttered open.

Honey-brown eyes looked at the captain in surprise.

"Mama?" Ally said softly.

With her little hand, she touched Kathryn's face and stroked her cheekbones, lips, chin, back to her forehead and then through Kathryn's hair. Then Ally frowned angrily and said, "No, not mama!"

Then she waved her little arms wildly in front of her body to keep the strangers away from her. She sat up quickly and pulled her knees close, hiding her head inside.

Kathryn immediately dropped the cuddly toy, which she had previously deposited on another biobed. Quickly she got it and spoke softly to Ally "Look, Ally, at who has been waiting for you while you slept."

She carefully brought the cuddly toy into Ally's sight and waited anxiously for the child to react.

Curiously, Ally squinted between her knees and looked in Kathryn's direction. But instead of looking forward to the cuddly toy, she tore it from Kathryn's hands and hurled it across the infirmary, shouting angrily, "Not Mama, not Poppy, No, No, No, No"

Kathryn looked shocked at the little girl, who had begun to cry bitterly. Completely helpless, she looked over at the doctor, who also looked very helpless.

Kathryn was tempted to approach Ally to put her in a comforting embrace, but she was afraid it would worsen Ally's reaction.

In her helplessness, she remembered the data padd. Quickly, she picked it up again and clicked through the pages, searching for something that would calm Ally. After several clicks she finally found what she was looking for. She showed the doctor what she had found and asked carefully if that would help. The doctor shrugged helplessly, but nodded that this might be a good idea.

Honestly, the doctor just felt very uncomfortable, he had never seen such a situation in his infirmary. Naomi had always been a very sweet child when he examined or treated her, she kept quiet and did what he told her. He'd never heard of her having a tantrum. The current situation overwhelmed him very much. He was grateful that the captain had perhaps found a solution to the problem. So he agreed with her idea, though he thought it wrong to offer the child a chocolate pudding right now.

Kathryn quickly turned to the replicator and replicated a bowl of chocolate pudding. She returned to the biobed and gave it to Ally. "Look, I replicated you a chocolate pudding, how about you stop crying and eat it. Yes?"

Tearstained, Ally looked up at the bowl of chocolate pudding and briefly lowered her small face as she thought about asking Kathryn to approach. But she then pushed her small foot against the bowl, which was immediately thrown down from the biobed and broke onto the floor in hundreds of small pieces. The chocolate pudding spurted in all directions, hitting the doctor's medical equipment, the Captain's uniform, and over much of the floor.

Meanwhile, Ally shouted angrily, "Replicated - NO, NO, NO" and immediately started crying bitterly.

The doctor and the captain looked at each other speechless. The doctor removed himself from the disturbance and sarcastically asked the captain, "Yeah, how hard can it be to look after a child?"

Kathryn glared at the doctor as she tried to control herself and swallow her anger. In thought, she kept telling herself * no, she's just a little girl, calm down, do not let your anger out on her. That will only make things worse *

Determined, she squared her shoulders, put on her command-mask and called the only person on the ship who could possibly handle this situation better than anyone else.

"Ensign Wildman, please contact the infirmary. I need your help "

While the captain and the doctor were waiting for Samantha Wildman, Kathryn called the maintenance crew so they could eliminate the chaos in the infirmary.

After a tormenting eternity, which was probably only a few minutes, finally Samantha Wildman appeared in the infirmary. She was amazed at the chaos that manifested before her. Kathryn sighed happily when she saw Samantha and briefly explained why she needed her help. She also told her about the chocolate pudding, as well as the cuddly toy. Kathryn openly admitted that she did not know how to handle this situation.

Samantha was openly surprised and deeply disturbed that there were times when her capable captain for once did not know how to handle something. She felt like pulling the older woman into a comforting embrace and reassuring her that it was only half as bad as it seemed. Samantha held herself back, knowing that the captain would probably disapprove.

So she just said, "Captain, I'm sure we can resolve the situation. First of all the cuddly toy disaster has happened to me before. Naomi had a cloth blanket that she loved above all else. She dragged it everywhere and that's how it looked. I wanted to recycle it a lot, but Naomi had always refused. But then I did it. The blanket looked nice and new again and smelled very pleasant. But Naomi was very angry with me and never looked at her beloved fabric blanket again. I think that was because over the years the blanket had taken on a pleasant fragrance that Naomi liked. After the blanket was recycled, the scent was gone, rendering it worthless to Naomi. Maybe it's the same with the stuffed animal? It just does not look like it did before and it does not smell like it did anymore. "

"Ah, I did not think so. Thanks for the explanation."

"No problem, Captain. I suggest I go to her and calm her. "With that, Samantha walked fearlessly over to the crying child. Kathryn was just admiring Samantha for her courage. However, she had not been there when Ally had her temper tantrum. Kathryn hoped it would not happen again.

As Ensign Samantha Wildman explained the situation, the doctor had stepped back to Seven's biobed and ran several scans to find out why she was unconscious. He was astonished to find that Seven had lost some of her implants. He wrote down everything for a report he later wanted to give the captain.

Now he watched as Samantha approached Ally's biobed. He tensed his breath until it occurred to him that he was a hologram, which did not have to breathe.

"Hello Ally, I'm Samantha Wildman, I've heard from the captain that you are very unhappy. How about you calm down and clean your nose and visit your mommi? "

At the word "Mommi", Ally quickly raised her little head and looked at Samantha in surprise. So far she had not thought of her mommi. She wiped her little nose over her shirtsleeves and smeared the snot off her nose and around her face.

Oh no, thought Samantha. She had taught Naomi not to do that at an early age because it did not look very pretty and her clothes got dirty. Samantha looked around quickly for a handkerchief, luckily found something similar and gently wiped Ally's face clean.

"Well, now you look lovely again. Look over there is your Mommi, she's still asleep, but if you're all good now, the doctor will allow us to go to her. Shall we do that? "Samantha gently asked Ally.

The child seemed to think about the proposal for a moment before nodding. She really didn't seem to trust the whole thing yet.

Samantha turned to the doctor and asked if it was possible for Ally to visit Seven. The doctor had no objection. He was just thankful that Ally had stopped crying and now seemed reasonable.

Samantha took Ally in her arms and walked over to Seven with her.

Ally silently looked at her mommy and wished very much that she would finally wake up. But even after a few minutes, her mommy was still sleeping. She squirmed uneasily in Samantha's arms and wanted to be let down. She wanted to wake her mommy. She had done that many times before. She knew how it went.

But Samantha held her tight in her arms and made sure that Ally could not slip down.

That made Ally really angry. "No, no, no, want to get down! Mommi be awake! "

Kathryn, who had been standing nearby throughout, watching what was happening, thought inwardly* no, not again, please God, make sure the child does not have a tantrum again *

"Shhh Ally, your mommi needs some more sleep so she can get well. You can not wake her until the doctor allows it. Be nice and let her sleep a little more. Yes? "Samantha calmed Ally gently.

Kathryn could hardly believe it, but Samantha really managed to make Ally calm down.

"So, would you like to peck your mommy before we leave the infirmary?" Samantha asked Ally gently.

Ally nodded enthusiastically. Ally gave Seven a gentle kiss on the cheek and pressed her sweetly. She really hoped her mommi would wake up now. Unfortunately, she remained lying still. Tears came back in Ally's eyes in disappointment, and she began to sniff.

"Shhh, everything is fine. You do not have to cry, your Mommi will wake up soon. And you'll be fine as long as the captain takes care of you. Yes?"

She turned to the captain, but Ally did not like that. "No, no, no, not Mama!" She exclaimed firmly.

"Yes, you're right, this is not your Mama, but she'll be just as nice to you as your mom. Am I right Captain? "

"Yes" Kathryn quickly answered Samantha.

Then she turned to Ally "I promise you, I will be very nice to you, if you also promise to be nice to me. Do you want to do that for me? "

"No!" Ally answered immediately. She wanted her mommy. She definitely did not want to go along with *Not Mama* and certainly did not want to be nice.

Kathryn sighed desperately and looked at Samantha helplessly.

Samantha intervened immediately "Hm ... I think your Mommi would be very sad if she knew you did not want to be a sweet girl. Do you want to sadden your mommi? "

"No," Ally replied immediately. She wanted her Mommi happy, smiled at her, tickled her, kissed her, hugged her and made fun things with her. But she did not want her mommi to be sad. Mommi had often been sad lately because Mama was gone. That's why they were here and no longer at home.

"Good, then you promise to be nice and go with the captain?" Samantha asked Ally again.

Ally thought about it, then sniffed deeply and nodded her head, looking very unhappy. "Yes," she said softly.

Kathryn and Samantha were happy to hear Ally's answer. Samantha released Ally from her embrace and handed her to the captain.

Kathryn was suddenly unsure if it was a good idea to take care of Ally. She gave Samantha a questioning look, but Samantha smiled reassuringly at the captain and said, "It'll be fine, Captain, you can do it, and if there's any problem, just call me, won't you?"

Kathryn nodded uncertainly. She really hoped that Samantha was right and everything would go well.

Samantha turned around and left the captain and her charge in the infirmary while she went back to work.


	9. Alone with Ally

As Ally struggled uneasily on her arm, Kathryn gently asked her, "Do you want to get down?"

"Yeah, i want to get down, I'm tall," Ally said firmly.

Kathryn released Ally and placed her on the ground. Then she looked uncertainly over to the doctor.

"Doctor, do I have anything else to consider?"

"No, not really. Ally is alive and well. So I cannot think of anything to pay special attention to. Well, except for the kid herself, "grinned the doctor complacently.

Kathryn rolled her eyes and turned to Ally. She took the girl by the hand, got Ally's data padd and gave it to Ally. Then she took Poppy and left the infirmary with Ally.

On the way to Kathryn's quarters, Ally remained nice holding her hand. In the quarters, she looked around curiously as Kathryn replicated a coffee. After she had enjoyed some of her coffee and the tension eased a bit, she asked Ally "Would you also like to drink something? Maybe a juice or tea? "

Ally frowned at her, then took her data padd, clicking through several pages until she found what she wanted. The audio voice answered for Ally "I would like chocolate milk"

"Good, but I can only replicate it for you. Is that still okay for you? "Kathryn asked a little anxiously.

Ally clicked her data padd a few more times and the audio voice said "That is acceptable"

Kathryn blinked confusedly at Ally, but then she remembered that it was Seven's voice and that she had probably programmed the audio announcements. So it was only natural that this announcement came.

Kathryn smiled happily at Ally and asked the replicator for a chocolate milk. Then she set the glass down on the table and Ally sat down obediently. She looked at Kathryn expectantly and Kathryn looked questioningly at Ally. "You can taste it quietly. Hm?"

Ally clicked on her data padd a few more times until the audio voice asked loudly for cookies.

"Oh yes of course. Forgive me, I completely forgot the cookies. What kind of cookies do you like? "

This time Ally answered "chocolate" alone and grinned at Kathryn. Oh boy, how sweet she can be, Kathryn thought.

Back at the replicator, Kathryn asked for chocolate cookies and then brought them to Ally's table. Ally immediately took a cookie and dipped it in her chocolate milk, pulled it out and put it in her mouth. She repeated this several times until she had eaten all her cookies. Then she took her chocolate milk and gulped it enthusiastically. Next, she wiped her shirt sleeve over her mouth and smiled happily at Kathryn.

"Nice, you liked that, didn't you?"

"Yes"

"What would you like to do now? Is there still a little time left before dinner and sleep? "

Ally clicked through her data padd several times, and the audio voice announced to Kathryn that Ally wanted to paint with fingerpaint.

So Kathryn replicated the desired finger paint, as well as some large coloring sheets, and put them on the table for Ally.

Ally immediately began to open all the paint pots and examine them closely, then stuck her little index finger in the red paint pot and began to paint a picture. Kathryn watched for a while, then went to her workstation and downloaded her reports from her computer in the ready room. She decided to read through some of the reports to catch up on some work before dinner and to distract herself from her worries about Seven. Who was still unconscious in the infirmary.

Initially, every now and then she looked over to Ally, looking to see if everything was okay. But after the fourth report, written by the doctor, describing the altered physiology of Seven and her implants, she was so engrossed in the reading that she no longer cared about Ally.

Only after a while did Kathryn realize that it was suddenly very quiet in her quarters. She glanced quickly at Ally. But where Ally had recently sat was now an empty chair, and the finger-paint was scattered on the table, the colouring sheets, and even a little on the carpet. Kathryn sighed deeply, hoping Ally had gone to the bathroom quickly.

On the way to the bathroom Kathryn discovered Ally in the bedroom in front of her mirror. The child looked closely at the mirror and seemed very pleased with her appearance. Kathryn realized immediately that Ally had used finger paint to paint her face, her shirt, her pants, and her hair.

Furthermore, several small handprints were distributed on both her blanket, the mirror, the wall and her closet door. Kathryn sighed deeply again.

When Ally noticed her, she turned cheerfully to Kathryn and said, "Pretty! Yes?"

"Yes, honey, you look very pretty. But I think we have to bathe you now so you can get clean again "

Ally's expression darkened immediately and she started shouting "No, no, no, do not want to bathe" stomping angrily with her small legs.

Kathryn jumped inwardly at this new tantrum. Lord God, she scolded me again, I am captain of a spaceship, I am responsible for 147 crew members, I fought against the Kazon, the Hirogen, the Borg and many other species. So you reckon that I can deal with a little girl. Or not?

Kathryn shrugged her shoulders, put on her command mask, and quietly called Ally by her full name. Ally immediately stopped screaming and raving. She looked at Kathryn seriously.

Kathryn immediately noticed the change in the child and immediately regretted her command tone. But to her surprise, Ally walked over to her, took her hand and said softly, "I'm nice," and looked at Kathryn seriously. Kathryn knelt down to Ally and looked closely at her. Then she pulled the girl into a hug and said, "Honey, you are nice. Lets take a bath now. Yes?"

"Yes," Ally replied happily that the woman who was not her mum had not scolded her.

Together they went to the bathroom. Kathryn poured water into the bathtub, adding extra foam and checking the temperature of the water. Then she helped Ally undress and then put her in the tub. For a moment, Kathryn was undecided whether to join Ally or to wash the child from outside the tub.

Ally looked at her curiously before she said "Come on!"

* Oh, boy, the little one also had a good command tone in her* thought Kathryn as she undressed and climbed into the tub to join Ally.

Then she took a washcloth and washed Ally's little face first and then her hands where most of the finger paint was spread. Then she asked Ally if she would like to continue washing herself, but she refused with a clear "no." So Kathryn continued to wash her and obviously Ally seemed to enjoy it. Even washing her hair did not cause her any problems. Kathryn was very happy about that.

When Ally was pretty and clean again, Kathryn put the washcloth aside and leaned back in the tub. She closed her eyes briefly and let the warmth of the water relax her body.

Ally watched her curiously. Then she took the washcloth, put some soap on it, and began to wash Kathryn's arm with it. Surprised, Kathryn opened her eyes and looked at what Ally was doing.

Ally seemed very absorbed in her task. As she wiped the washcloth over her stomach, she watched closely as the soap left lather on Kathryn's belly. She thought that was a lot of fun. Then she took a cup that stood at the edge of the tub, filled it with water and washed the foam aside. Fascinated again, she fetched the soap and rinsed away several times. Kathryn saw how happy Ally looked.

Therefore, she leaned back relaxed and closed her eyes again.

She would almost have drifted away, if not for the sudden loud rippling as water splashed in her face. Shocked, she opened her eyes and saw Ally start frantically waving her little arms in the tub. She splashed the water in all directions and happily chuckled at the fun she had.

But when she realized that Kathryn was looking at her seriously, she immediately stopped pumping the water around with her arms. She grinned happily at Kathryn. Already before Kathryn could say anything, Ally had sat down in her lap, her little arms wrapped around Kathryn's neck and pressed against her. "Ally dear, yes?"

"Yes, sweetheart" Kathryn squeezed the child softly and just could not continue to be angry with Ally if she was so cute.

Then she got up cautiously, climbing with her arm wrapped around Ally from the tub. Next, she quickly dried Ally and herself and recycled Ally's and her own clothes. But then it occurred to her that it would be better to replicate pyjamas for Ally and help her get dressed. She once again put on her recycled uniform. After all, she still had to let the maintenance team know that her living room, bedroom and bathroom needed a little cleaning.

As the maintenance team cleared the captain's quarters, Kathryn tried to find out what Ally wanted to eat for dinner. But they just looked at the different pictures on Ally's data padd. So far she had not found anything that Ally wanted. Of course she wanted cookies, or chocolate, or other sweets, but Kathryn did not act in these cases.

After the maintenance team took about 45 minutes to clean the bathroom, bedroom and living room, Kathryn and Ally had agreed on noodles with tomato sauce and meatballs. Ally was not very happy that the food was replicated, but she was hungry and so she made an exception.

After dinner, Kathryn would have liked to call the maintenance team again, but she was too embarrassed. Therefore, she quickly tried to clean the tomato sauce stains from carpet herself. Unfortunately, she was less than successful with it. Then she looked at Ally grinning and made a mental note for the next time. * First food, then bath and then pajamas *

Because Ally had managed to spread the tomato sauce over her face, then she had wiped her mouth several times with her pajamas and looked accordingly.

Kathryn sighed deeply and took Ally in her arms and went back into the bathroom with her. There she took off her pajamas, recycled them, and washed Ally's face with a new washcloth. After that, her teeth had to be cleaned. Only then did she help Ally put on her pajamas again.

Kathryn had decided to let Ally sleep in her bed and she herself wanted to sleep on the couch later. With the data padd, Ally asked her for a good nighttime story. So Kathryn downloaded a children's story into a data padd. She chose a story that she herself loved as a child. Then she put Ally to bed and sat with her, leaning against the headboard of the bed and reading. But after several paragraphs both had fallen asleep completely exhausted.

**********

Samantha Wildmann was more than happy when she went to bed in the evening and had not even been called by the captain. Sure, she'd heard the rumors spread by the maintenance team in the mess hall, who had said the Captain's quarters were smeared with finger paint and the bathroom had been underwater. But, hey, the captain seemed to have a firm grip on everything. If not, she would have contacted her, right?


	10. The morning after

Ally woke and looked around, confused. Only after a few moments did she remember that she was no longer at home, but here, with the woman who was not her mother.

Ally sat up in bed, and saw the woman sleeping deeply beside her. Quietly Ally got up and walked towards the living room. She took her paddy in her hand, but she simply ignored Poppy. Usually Poppy came with her everywhere, but Ally could not play with the toy now that it was clean.

Ally crept cautiously to the quarter door. From experience she knew that the door could sound an alarm if it had a security seal. But to her great joy, the woman who was * not her mum * had forgotten to enter a security seal. Her Mommi or her mom always remember to, so she could not wonder too far if she wanted to play hide and seek.

But today, Ally did not want to play hide and seek, but visit her Mommi in the infirmary and finally wake her up.

Ally was not worried that she did not know where the infirmary was. She would definitely find her Mommi. She was firmly convinced of that.

So she crept quietly but purposefully through the quarter doors and walked down the long corridor from deck 3, towards the turbolift. In the turbolift she stated that she wanted to go to deck 7. On deck 7, she wandered through the various corridors, hiding quickly each time a crew member came into view.

Unfortunately, she did not find the infirmary or her mommy. She ascended the turbolift several times and wandered around the various decks. Slowly, concern and fear spread in her mind that she might have gotten lost. Tears welled up in her eyes and she started to sniff. If only she had taken Poppy, that would never have happened. Poppy always knew where to go. Desperate, Ally sat down in the middle of the corridor and began to cry bitterly.

After a while strong arms lifted her and she looked into dark eyes. "Hello, little Miss, can I help you?" asked the man with the face painting.

Ally looked at him in surprise and wiped the tears from her face with her pajamas. Then she pulled out her paddy, looked for the right page and clicked on it. The audio voice said "I'm Ally, I love to hide. If you find me, please take me to my Mommi Seven or my Mama Kathryn. We live in Quartier 273, on Deck 6"

Chakotay smiled gently at the little girl. Then he tapped his communicator and called the captain.

Kathryn awoke confused by the hum of her communicator. Out of habit, she pressed the communicator and asked sleepily, "Chakotay, what is it?"

Chaktoay started to grin "Captain, I wanted to ask if you might be missing something?"

"What? No. Anyway ... what do you mean? "Kathryn asked confused. Kathryn stumbled out of bed and went into the living room to replicate a coffee. She was definitely not awake enough for jokes by Chakotay.

"Well, maybe you are missing something or rather someone who is about 90 cm tall, has dark curly hair and brown eyes? Anyone who answers to the name Ally? "Chakotay asked with a grin.

Kathryn immediately choked on her coffee when she heard Ally's name. Damn, I forgot the child, it slipped her mind. Damn, Damn, Damn.

Kathryn groaned in frustration, Chaktotay would raise this incident for months. She tried to collect herself as quickly as possible, then she answered Chakotay.

"Now that you mention it, it could be that I am missing Ally. Is she by any chance with you? "She asked carefully.

"Yes, Captain, I'll bring her back to you right away." Chakotay, laughing, ended the conversation, wrapped Ally in his arms, and headed for the captain's quarters.

Kathryn quickly ran to the bathroom to see what she looked like. She quickly straightened her hair and brushed her teeth, then tried to straighten her crumpled uniform. Unfortunately, she did not succeed very well.

A moment later, her doorbell rang. She quickly ran back into the living room and shouted "Come in"  
Chakotay stepped purposefully into the quarters and grinned cheekily at the captain. Ally stretched her arms towards Kathryn. And Kathryn took the tear-stained child in her arms and hugged her gently.

"Shhh, all right darling, now you're back ... Huh?

Ally relaxed in Kathryn's arms and put her little head on Kathryn's shoulder. Silently she sniffed "Go Mommi. Yes?"

"Yes, honey, you will go to visit your Mommi. But first there is breakfast, then we have to wash and dress ourselves. And once that's done, we'll visit your Mommi. OK?"

Ally just nodded her head.

Kathryn turned to Chakotay "Thank you for bringing her back. Where did you find her?"

Chakotay's cheeky grin faded after a few moments, when he saw how relieved Kathryn was when she pulled Ally into her arms and gently calmed her down. He had not witnessed this side of Kathryn yet and he was clearly surprised. For now, he decided not to tease Kathryn any further, but to give her a brief account of where and how he had found Ally.

He then apologized and returned to work.


	11. Seven

After breakfast, Kathryn and Ally went to the infirmary. Unfortunately, the doctor still could not figure out why Seven was unconscious.

So Kathryn and Ally were tied up in their own thoughts at the biobed as they quietly looked at Seven.

Ally wanted to wake up her mommy, but the doctor forbade her to get on the biobed and wake up her mommi in her own special way. At home, she had always sneaked into Mommi's bed and sat on Mommi's belly, tickling, tweaking, or playing with her hair until Mommi finally stirred and opened her eyes. Mommi always pulled her into her arms, kissed her and then tickled or cuddled her doll. Ally sighed deeply, trying to blink away the tears that were about to form. She really missed her mommy.

Kathryn also wanted to see Seven awake and healthy. But she could not think of anything she could do. When she heard Ally's deep sigh, she looked down at her. Seeing little tears in Ally's eyes, she wrapped her arm around the little girl and hugged her gently.

Before leaving the infirmary, Ally wanted to kiss and hug her mommy again. Kathryn also leaned down to Seven to kiss her on the cheek before whispering softly into Seven's ear, "Come back to us, we need you."

Then they sadly left the infirmary.

Meanwhile, Seven felt comfortable. Her whole body began to tingle and warm. She was not yet aware of what was happening or why it was happening. But she knew that it was important to find out. But she felt so caught up in the dark, she did not know how to find her way to the light.

Only the one sentence "Come back to us, we need you" entered her consciousness. It repeated itself again and again. First it whispered softly and then it became louder and louder. It came from a certain direction, but Seven could not yet determine which direction it was from. It wasn't until she recognized the voice of who said the phrase when she knew which way to go.

* Kathryn, she needs me * shot through Seven's mind.

Seven's breathing quickened, her heart throbbing violently and her thoughts racing. The doctor immediately noticed the change in Seven's body. He immediately scanned her with his tricorder and frowned at the results. Clearly, something had happened to Seven.

The doctor immediately pressed his communicator and called the captain.

Kathryn had just given Ally to the Wildman's, after she had spent the morning with Ally, she needed a little break. As much as she had grown fond of the little girl, her body was screaming for coffee and a moment of calm.

So she was very happy that Samantha Wildman had called her and asked if Ally wanted to come over to play in the afternoon. Kathryn gratefully accepted this offer and Ally was thrilled to meet Naomi and play with her.

"Captain, please come to the infirmary right away"

Concerned, Kathryn squeezed her communicator and shouted "I'm on my way," then hurried to the nearest turbolift and headed for the deck where the infirmary was. She hurried down the hallway and entered the infirmary anxiously.

When the door opened, she saw Seven sitting upright on the biobed. The doctor was currently driving his tricorder over her and scanned her vital signs.

Seven's eyes locked instantly with Kathryn's eyes. Seven stood up immediately, but she was still shaky. Before she tipped over, Kathryn rushed to her and took her protectively in her arms. Seven gratefully smiled at her, then put her hand on Kathryn's cheek and stroked her thumb gently over it. She bowed her head down and covered Kathryn's lips with hers and breathed a gentle kiss over them.

Kathryn was surprised at the touch and the gentle kiss. But she quickly recovered and kissed Seven gently back. The kiss lasted a few seconds before the doctor cleared his throat.

Quickly Kathryn squeezed Seven a little and breathless breathed "We cannot do this", referring to the kiss they had shared.

Seven looked at her confused and asked, "Why not?"

"I am not your Kathryn. I am …"

But before she could speak any further, a huge smile spread over Seven's face. "I know you are my captain. And yes, you are my Kathryn. Trust me"

"But…"

"No, no buts. I love you Kathryn Janeway and you are the right Kathryn for me. I'll explain it later. "

Then Seven turned in the infirmary and tried to find out where Ally was.

Worried, she asked, "Where is Ally? Is she still sleeping? "

The doctor said, "No, you have been unconscious since you arrived here yesterday. Since Ally had no injuries, like you did, we saw no reason not to wake her. But do not worry, the captain took good care of her and she's fine. "

Seven smiled gratefully at Kathryn and pulled her once more into a gentle hug. "Thank you Kathryn, that was very kind of you."

Turning to the doctor, Seven asked, "Can I go and see Ally?"

"Well, let me finish the Vitalscan and see what the results say, only then can I decide. So please sit back on the biobed and keep still. " warned the doctor.

Seven did as she was told. But she was too restless to keep quiet for a long time. She wanted to see Ally as soon as possible. After half an hour, the docotor was finally finished and satisfied with the results. So he allowed her to leave the infirmary.

Since Seven was still a bit shaky on her legs, Kathryn put an arm protectively around Seven's waist. Seven liked that a lot and she enjoyed being so close to Kathryn.

On the way to the Wildman's Kathryn told Seven what she had experienced yesterday and today with Ally. Seven had to laugh loudly in several places. Kathryn found Seven's laughs very pleasant and adorable. And during other moments she looked at Kathryn anxiously. But no matter how Seven reacted to the narrative, she still looked adorable.

To Kathryn's regret, they arrived far too quickly at the Wildman's. She enjoyed keeping Seven safely in her arms through the hallways.

As the door to the Wildman's quarters opened, Seven smiled happily at Samantha and pulled her into a friendly hug, thanking her for everything she had done for Ally. Then she released Samantha and asked where Ally was.

Ally and Naomi had sneaked quietly into the living room when the doorbell rang to see who the visitor was. When Ally saw her mommi, she immediately rushed towards her.

"Mommi, Mommi" Seven immediately lifted Ally into her arms and hugged her tight, then kissed her on the cheek, nose and forehead and back again. Ally giggled happily.

"Hello my little honey bear. Are you all right?"

"Yes, mommy. Again!"

Seven obeyed and kissed her little daughter once more savagely on the cheeks, the nose and on the forehead and back again. Then she tickled Ally's little belly and squeezed her tight again.

"Good?"

"Yes, let me down. Want to go play "Ally told Seven.

Seven obeyed again and put her little daughter on the floor. Then, turning to Naomi, Seven embraced her and hugged her tightly.

"Hello Naomi, I missed you. Are you all right?"

Naomi was very surprised by this heartfelt hug. Seven had never hugged her before. But she liked it a lot. So she smiled happily and nodded eagerly to answer Seven's question.

"Very good. Would you like to go and play? "

Naomi shook her head and squeezed her tight again, whispering softly in her ear "Nice that you're back. I missed you too much. Will you stay forever? "

Seven looked at Naomi and then at the captain. Then she quietly whispered in Naomi's ear, "Yes, I'll stay forever, and you know what?", "No, what?" Naomi asked curiously. "I want to marry the captain. But I think she will not agree easily. Would you like to help me persuade her? "

Naomi's eyes widened at this confession and she nodded eagerly with her head. Yes, she really wanted to help Seven with her plans. After all, apart from Neelix, Seven and the Captain were her favorite crew members on Voyager.

"Very good," Seven rejoiced. Then she released Naomi and winked at her conspiratorially.

Next, she turned to Samantha, "Can Ally stay here for a while to play?"

"Yeah, sure. She and Naomi have a lot of fun together. If you want she can stay here for dinner. "

"Well, I think we will have to ask Ally later. Thank you for letting her stay here. Please call if she wants to go or there is a problem. Yes?"

"Yes, I will do that"

Samantha accompanied the two women to the quarter-door and said goodbye to them. She was really happy to see the Captain and Seven so happy.


	12. A Clarifying Conversation

Kathryn took Seven to her quarters and put Seven, who was still a bit shaky on her feet, on the couch and got herself a cup of coffee, and a tea for Seven.

Then she sat down with Seven and looked at her gently. Neither talked for a while, they just looked at each other.

After an eternity, Seven bravely leaned toward Kathryn, brushing her lips gently over Kathryn's cheek. When Seven pulled back, Kathryn slipped her hand behind Seven's head and gently pulled Seven towards her. Her lips touched slightly on Seven's lips.

* Oh, yes, she wanted that so much * shot through Kathryn's head.

She pressed her body closer into Seven's and her free arm slipped around Seven's waist, pulling her closer. Seven eagerly wrapped her arms around Kathryn's body, stroking her back, down her sides, all the way down to Kathryn's bottom. She put her hands under it and squeezed lightly. Kathryn moaned softly into Seven's mouth as Seven opened her lips slightly so that Kathryn's hot tongue could slide into her mouth.

Seven lifted Kathryn onto her lap and enjoyed the tingling sensation that hit her whole body as Kathryn's tongue touched her tongue and danced around her mouth. The kiss quickly became more passionate and both women lost themselves in the beautiful feeling of being together.

But then Kathryn's mouth parted from Seven's and eagerly inhaled much needed air. She rested her brow on Seven's forehead and sighed softly.

"Darling, we cannot do that. You're married"

Seven tenderly stroked Kathryn's back and hugged her gently. Then she lifted Kathryn from her lap and looked at her silently for a while.

"Right," she sighed heavily. Tears came to her eyes and she quickly wiped them away with her hand.

"You know, that's a long story. I'm not sure if I can tell you without crying, "Seven confessed softly. She looked down and fumbled at a corner of a couch cushion.

Kathryn put her hand gently under Seven's chin and lifted it up. Then she looked lovingly at Seven. "Please, tell me everything. Do not worry, I'll be there for you if it gets too hard for you. Yes?"

Seven sighed heavily again and then told her story.

"When I left Voyager, I was beamed to Relativity. There I met Kathryn Janeway Tighe, your counterpart from a parallel world. We immediately understood each other very well. Her quarters and my quarters were next to each other. Therefore, we were able to visit often, according to our working shifts. We met each evening, had dinner together and talked about everything possible.

She was very nice and friendly to me.

But just like me, she had lost her former life and her husband, Justin Tighe. She really loved him very much and me ...? Well, I was in love with you when I left Voyager, and that did not change while I lived on the Relativity. "

Seven carefully looked at Kathryn. Kathryn nodded to Seven to continue telling her.

"No, no intimate relationship ever developed between us. We became only the best of friends. Kat always called us the best "bosom girlfriends". In the beginning I did not understand what my bosom had to do with the fact that we were friends. But it did not matter.

Kat worked in the science lab and I was often sent on away missions where my team were supposed to correct the different timelines.

Five years ago, when we were supposed to correct a timeline in the 21st century, in a dingy alley my enhanced hearing made me hear a faint whine. I followed the sound and found a small bundle. When I removed the blanket, I held a baby in my hands. It was already completely blue in the face. It was near frostbite. So I beamed myself back to the Relativity with the baby and the doctors in the infirmary were able to save the baby.

I immediately fell in love with the little infant.

When Kat heard that I had returned early from the mission and was in the infirmary, she immediately, anxiously, rushed to me. She was very happy that I was alive and well. She was really worried about me.

I showed her the baby and she fell in love immediately.

You know, Kat always wanted to have a baby, but before she could have children with Justin, she joined the Relativity crew.

The doctors and the captain gave us permission to take the baby home, since it was not known what would happen to her otherwise.

She was so small, only a few days old. But she fidgeted with her little arms and legs. Of course, we saw that she looked different from other babies and children, but that did not bother us. She was perfect for us.

The doctors informed us the next day why she looked so different. It was due to the genetic defect trisomy 21. Therefore she was probably abandoned by her biological parents. I did not understand why someone could do such a terrible thing. How could parents simply put their newborn child in an alley and let it die?

Kat tried to explain it to me, but it was the first time that even she could not explain something to me. She tried, but I just did not understand it. I was so sour and angry with these people. Had I known who it was, I would have liked to have terminated them.

Captain Ducane contacted the 29th century Federation and asked for a decision. They wanted the baby to be brought back to the 21st century. But Capatain Ducane did not have it in his heart, because he found out she would have died if I had not found her while following the original timeline.

So it was decided that the baby should be handed over to a 21st century family. But this timeline also showed that Ally would not survive her 3rd birthday.

I refused to give the baby back. Kat helped me with it. But Capatain Ducane still tried to convince us that the baby would be best kept in a family, no matter in which century.

Kat then had the brilliant idea to ask me if I wanted to become her wife. At first I did not understand why she suggested something like that. But then she explained to me that it would be the only way possible to lawfully adopt the baby and make it our child. Captain Ducane was delighted to hear what we were planning.

A few days later he married us and we were able to legally adopt the baby. Then we gave her the name Allison Elisabeth Erin Hansen Janeway.

Since our quarters were next to each other anyway, we requested a renovation. The adjacent quarter wall was removed and in the middle a nursery was built for Ally. The room had two doors that led one door into Kat's quarters and the other in mine.

Most of the time we spent together with Ally. Sometimes in one quarter and sometimes in the other. We only occasionally shared a bed. Just to cuddle and most of the time Ally lay between us.

You would not believe how such a little child can take up so much space.

We learned that Ally had special needs and also needed special forms of therapy to support her development. In children with the genetic defect trisomy 21, development slows down, if not makes it more difficult.

That's why I invented the data padd, we call it Paddy, so that Ally can express herself better linguistically.

Apart from that, we used all forms of therapy which were recommended to us. But we also chose different therapies when we felt that Ally did not feel happy or when her development was hampered.

For Ally, we just wanted her to become a healthy, happy child.

So the years went by and we were a happy family. Sure, there were many days like yesterday or today. But we were always happy. "

Seven stopped talking and she felt tears filling her eyes. She pulled her legs up to her body and hid her head in her knees and cried softly.

Kathryn pulled Seven gently towards her body and squeezed her comfortingly. Tenderly, she stroked Seven's hair and softly asked, "What happened then?"

Seven sniffled and continued to talk quietly. "Kat died in an accident in the science lab. There was an explosion. The injured were immediately beamed to the infirmary. I was informed immediately, but Kat's injuries were too severe. She died in my arms. "

Seven buried her head in Kathryn's body and wept bitterly. Kathryn held Seven close, stroking Seven's hair calmly and softly murmuring comforting words.

They sat there for a very long time while Seven's tears were slowly drying up.

"Darling, I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me for questioning you. "

Seven straightened up again, her eyes swollen from the many tears she had shed, her lips still shaking as she quietly replied, "No ... it was good to tell you everything," she sniffed again shortly before she continued to tell.

"After Kat died, I collapsed and could not look after Ally for a while.

Everyone aboard the Relativity was worried about us. I got someone to look after Ally half of the time, and the counselor stopped by every day and talked to me for a long time, occasionally speaking to Ally as well. She did not understand at the beginning why her mom did not come home from work, and she could not grasp the situation even when the counselor told her that her mom had died and would never come back.

She cried a lot and did not understand her world anymore. I tried to comfort her as much as possible and to give her all my love, but I was so incredibly tired and depressed most of the time.

I started to hate myself because I was so unable to properly take care of Ally. If Ally had not been, maybe I would have killed myself. "

Seven sighed and lowered her head.

"Captain Ducane, who became a very good friend of Kat and I over the years, was very worried. Therefore, he spoke with the Federation of the 29th century and ask them to send me back to my own universe. He explained the situation to them and the Federation agreed that it would be best for me and Ally to go back to my timeline and my universe. Captain Ducane always knew how much I had fallen in love with you and how much I missed Voyager and my friends.

So I was sent back. We sedated Ally, because a time jump is always a bit uncomfortable. I wanted her to get through the journey easily. We would have arrived earlier, but Voyager was due to leave the star system you've spent the last few months traveling around. "

With that, Seven ended her story. Kathryn took her in her arms and held her close. Then she asked quietly, "Why did you leave Voyager?"

So Seven told her why she had left Voyager originally. Kathryn was not surprised when she heard it.


	13. A Clarifying Conversation Part 2

After a while, Seven build some courage and asked Kathryn "May Ally and I stay on Voyager?"

"Oh darling, what a question. Now that you're back here with me, with us, do you really think that I would allow you to leave again? No, I would never let that happen. And now, since the we shared a kiss earlier, you must have noticed how I feel for you, right? "

Seven happily beamed at Kathryn. "Hm ... No, I did not notice. Maybe a new kiss would be necessary to be sure? "She replied seriously.

Kathryn lightly slapped Seven on her arm. "Stop teasing me you. But your wish is very welcome. "

Kathryn leaned over to Seven and kissed her gently. Before Seven could reciprocate, Kathryn withdrew. Seven pulled a pout.  
"Really cute darling. I have to say you have changed a lot. I like it. Oh, that reminds me, the doctor gave me a report on your altered physiology. Please tell me more about it. "

"Well, the technology of the 29th century made it possible for the Relativity doctors to remove several of my implants so that I could live my life more freely. So they were able to remove my abdominal implant. The doctor would not have been able to do that without risking my death. I do not have to regenerate in an alcove anymore. To keep my nanoprobes fresh, I now have this... "

Seven pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and showed Kathryn a small device that she had attached to her arm. It looked like the doctor's emiter.

"This is my portable regeneration unit. It provides enough energy so that my nano-probes can be adequately supplied. I have not worn my organic suits for a long time. Kat had suggested that they might be very useful in regulating my body functions, but they did not really provide much variety. So she helped me find out what clothes I liked. I have since experimented a lot with my clothes. I thought in the beginning that clothing styles are irrelevant, I now know that it is a lot of fun to dress up for any occasion. It also helped to strengthen my self-confidence a lot. "

When Kathryn heard that, she really had to laugh. Seven looked at her in amazement,"What?"

"Well darling, I never imagined that your self-confidence needed a boost. You walked around very confidently here on Voyager and did not let anyone approach you. Sure, I knew that was a kind of self-protection for you, but I did not realize that your self-confidence needed strengthening too "

"You are right Kathryn, I was very arrogant and always very confident. I was also aware that many called me * Ice Princess *. But in my personal life I often felt insecure and vulnerable. I did not know how to deal with the many different individuals, their many different opinions and feelings. Much was a mystery to me and it was difficult for me to socialize with the others. It was only through Kat and Ally that I learned so much more about my own feelings, my preferences, what I liked and what I did not. And that made me self-confident. I now know that a smile or a hug is a very nice way to tell the people around me how much I like or appreciate them. And in return, it is easier for people to be more relaxed towards me. "

"Darling, I wish you had told me earlier about your problems. Maybe then I could have helped you better. "Kathryn smiled sadly at Seven.

Seven put her hand on Kathryn's hand and squeezed it slightly. "Hm ... no, it's okay, you do not have to blame yourself. I always knew that you were very busy with Voyager, with responsibility for the crew and the return home to the Alpha Quadrant. I did not want to give you any more problems. So I was silent, trying to navigate through daily life on Voyager. "

"Darling, please, I would very much like to have been there for you more. Promise me you will talk to me if there are any problems again, yes? "

Seven nodded slightly with her head. Then she leaned over to Kathryn and kissed her gently on the cheek. Then she pulled back and looked Kathryn deep in the eyes. "I promise, but only if you promise to talk to me about your problems." Seven winked at Kathryn.  
Kathryn moaned inwardly, but then nodded to Seven and promised quietly that she would do that.

To distract Seven from this topic of conversation "Darling, why was your Kat just a scientist and not a Captain like me?"

"Oh, she was not just a scientist Kathryn, she loved being a scientist, just as you love being a captain. She was able to immerse herself in her experiments, scans and examinations. Kat could talk for hours about what she had found out, and it was so much fun listening and discussing it with her.

But back why she was * only * a scientist. Well, the shuttle that crashed in this universe, causing your dad and then fiancé Justin Tighe to die, never crashed in Kat's universe. As a result, Admiral Paris had never encouraged her to pursue a career in command. And she herself never felt the need to be anything but a scientist. "

Kathryn considered the whole thing and nodded to Seven. "Yes, Admiral Paris had suggested after the accident that I should take a career as a captain. Because he thought that I would be good at it. So that was the point where our lives and our way of life changed, right? "

"Yeah, that's the way it was, but I think there were differences in your own lives before that." Seven agreed.

Then she remembered something important. "Kathryn, Ally and I, we need a place, I can not live with her in Cargo Bay 2."

"Oh ... yes you are right darling. Hm ... "Kathryn thought about it for a moment and then grinned wide when her wonderful idea came.

"Darling, how about you and Ally move in here with me? I would really love to have you both here with me. What do you say? "Kathryn asked eagerly and excitedly.

Seven thought about that for a while before answering, "Kathryn I do not know. Your offer is really very nice, but Ally needs a private room and I also need my space. We both, I think, are not the simplest roommates. You would have to make many compromises and also I'm not sure how Ally will find the idea. You know, it's important to me that Ally is allowed to decide. Do you understand that?"

But Kathryn did not give up her idea, she liked the idea that Seven would live near her forever much too much.

"We could redesign the guest quarters next door. A nursery and a bedroom for you, with a connecting door to my quarters. On the Relativity, you also had rooms in this order, right? "

Seven's face lit up brightly this idea "Yes, that would be a good idea. I think that would work. Ally is used to this family life. But Kathryn, honestly, where are we going from here? "Seven asked seriously.

Kathryn thought for a moment, then she pulled Seven into her arms and kissed her tenderly.

"I love you darling and I want to live with you forever. I want to be there for you and Ally. I feel very happy and would like to share my happiness with everyone on Voyager. What do you say darling, do you want to be my wife and endure me until we get old and gray? "

Seven looked seriously at Kathryn "Hm ... actually we're already married technically. My name is still Anika Hansen Janeway. So nooooo ... "Seven laughed at the funny face Kathryn pulled she pouted.

"Kathryn, that was just a joke" Seven tried to calm her Kathryn "I would prefer nothing but to marry you and bear you until we're old and gray. And believe it or not, you will always look beautiful to me, even if you are old and gray. "

Then she leaned over to Kathryn and caught her lips with her lips, initiating a passionate kiss.

A little while later, both had to end the kiss to gasp. They both looked at each other dreamily.

Then Kathryn tapped on her communicator. "Attention all crew members of Voyager, this is the Captain. I would like to tell you that Seven of Nine has agreed to my marriage proposal and we will marry in a few days. There will soon be more information. Janeway out . "

On Voyager all crew members broke out in cheers and were happy for their captain.

Kathryn grinned widely at Seven "I said that I'm so happy that I wanted to tell everyone."

Seven was speechless, she never thought Kathryn would make such an announcement to all the crewmembers. Tears welled up in her eyes, which she quickly wiped with her hand.

Then she whispered softly, "I love you Kathryn Janeway. You're incredible."

After another passionate kiss, Kathryn contacted Neelix and asked if it was possible to organize a wedding party in 3-5 days. The Talaxian was very euphoric and confirmed that it was possible.

"So darling, now there is no turning back. Let's pick up Ally from the Wildman's and then start our new life together "

Kathryn joined her hand with Seven's hand and strolled with her through the corridors of the Voyager, on the way to the Wildman's.

 

Here ends the story, but by no means the love of Seven and Kathryn.

**Author's Note:**

> Arturis* com in Season 4, episode 26 in front and the wormmonster** in Season 5, episode 14 before


End file.
